A special election for Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district was held on March 13, 2018, following the resignation of Republican representative

Tim Murphy Timothy Murphy may refer to: Politics * Tim Murphy (American politician) (born 1952), American Republican Party politician from Pennsylvania * Tim Murphy (Canadian politician) (born 1959), Canadian politician * Timothy J. Murphy (1893–1949), Iri ...

. Murphy, who held the seat since January 3, 2003, declared his intent to resign on October 5, 2017, and vacated his seat on October 21 that year. Democrat

Conor Lamb Conor James Lamb (born June 27, 1984) is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district from 2018 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the ...

defeated Republican Rick Saccone 49.86% to 49.53%. Saccone conceded the race eight days after the election.

Background

Eight-term incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Tim Murphy was involved in a

sex scandal A sex scandal is a public scandal involving allegations or information about possibly immoral sexual activities, often associated with the sexual affairs of film stars, politicians, famous athletes, or others in the public eye. Sex scandals r ...

consisting of his allegedly having extramarital sexual relations with a woman and then asking her to have an

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. This was particularly damaging because Murphy identifies as a

pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...

politician. Murphy subsequently announced that he was resigning and that he would leave office on October 21. Primary elections were not held in the race. Instead, nominees were chosen by each party. The Republican Party held a special convention on November 11, 2017, to choose a nominee through a conferee process involving 215 local Republican activists. The Democratic Party held their nominating convention on November 19, 2017. The Libertarian Party of Allegheny County and the Libertarian Party of Washington County nominated a candidate via party caucus. At the time, Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District was located in

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the Unite ...

and bordered the state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. It included portions of Greene,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. The district had a

Cook PVI The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated PVI or CPVI, is a measurement of how partisan a U.S. congressional district or U.S. state is. This partisanship is indicated as lean towards either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, comp ...

score of R+11. This was the last election for Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district held under the configuration made in 2011 by the Pennsylvania Legislature as new districts have been drawn in accordance with the ruling of the

state supreme court In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in ...

in ''League of Women Voters v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania'' and came into effect for the main 2018 congressional elections in November. The bulk of the old 18th became the 14th District.

Republican conferee meeting

Candidates

Declared

* Guy Reschenthaler, state senator * Rick Saccone, state representative * Kim Ward, state senator

Failed to qualify

* George Karpacs, Pennsylvania College Access Program board member

Withdrew

* Jason Ortitay, state representative

Results

Democratic convention

Candidates

Declared

* Rueben Brock, psychologist and

California University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, California (abbreviated as PennWest California) is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University in California, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus had an enrollment of 2,717 as of fall 2024. Founded in 1852 ...

assistant professor * Gina Cerilli, Westmoreland County Commissioner * Mike Crossey, former Allegheny County Councillor and former teachers' union official * Pam Iovino, former Assistant

Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...

Secretary *

, former

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

for the Western District of Pennsylvania * Keith Seewald, small business owner and author * Bob Solomon, physician

Declined

* Dan Miller, state representative * Brandon Neuman, state representative

Results

Libertarian Party nomination

The Libertarian candidate was

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

attorney Drew Gray Miller. Prior to this, however, a primary candidate was Philip Moses, a high school government teacher. Moses ended his campaign in early 2018.

General election

Candidates

( Democratic), former Assistant

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Western District of Pennsylvania * Drew Gray Miller (

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

), former

Legal Counsel A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as wel ...

to the

Majority Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips a ...

of the

Pennsylvania Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mi ...

br>Official Sample Ballot
* Rick Saccone ( Republican), state representative

Predictions

Campaign

The major party candidates were Republican Rick Saccone and Democrat

, in a district that

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

carried by almost 20 points in the 2016 presidential election. The special election attracted national attention and was seen by many political analysts and commentators as a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Re ...

on the popularity of

, Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and the Republican Party. Saccone said the special election was a referendum on Trump's presidency and called himself "Trump before Trump was Trump". Prominent Republicans including Donald Trump (twice), Donald Trump Jr.,

Ivanka Trump Ivana Marie "Ivanka" Trump (; born October 30, 1981) is an American businesswoman. She is the second child of Donald Trump, the president of the United States, and his first wife, Ivana. Trump was a senior advisor in her father's first admi ...

, and

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

came to the state to campaign for Saccone. The district was contested by a third-party candidate (Libertarian Drew Gray Miller) for the first time since 1996.

Campaign funding

Republicans and aligned groups spent more than twice as much as Democrats and aligned groups on the special election.Peter Overby
GOP Pours Cash Into Pennsylvania Special Election To Prevent An Upset Defeat
NPR (March 12, 2018). Although Lamb's campaign fund raised more than Saccone's campaign fund, Saccone benefited from far more spending by outside groups than Lamb. The Republican Party and outside pro-Republican "

independent expenditure An independent expenditure, in elections in the United States, is a political campaign communication that expressly advocates for the election or defeat of a clearly identified political candidate that is not made in cooperation, consultation or ...

" groups spent almost $10.7 million to support Saccone or oppose Lamb in the campaign, while $2.6 million in independent expenditures was spent in support of Lamb.David Wright
GOP, conservative groups have spent $10 million-plus on the PA-18 special election
CNN (March 13, 2018). Fourteen outside groups (seven Republican, seven Democrat) comprised over 95% of the spending. For the Republican side, the major groups spending money on Saccone's behalf were

Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the ...

's Congressional Leadership Fund, the

National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the United States Republican Party, Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Repub ...

, the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

, and the pro-Trump groups America First Action and 45Committee. For the Democratic side, the major groups spending money on Lamb's behalf were the

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in ...

, Patriot Majority PAC, and the VoteVets.org Action Fund.

Debates

KDKA-TV hosted the first debate on February 19, 2018. WTAE-TV hosted the second and final debate on March 3, 2018, at 7 PM EST. The debate was hosted live by WTAE-TV along with the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

Greater Pittsburgh Greater Pittsburgh is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Pittsburgh in Western Pennsylvania, United States. The region includes Allegheny County, Pittsburgh's urban core county and economic hub, and seven adjacent Pennsylvania cou ...

Endorsements

Polling

{, class="wikitable" , - valign=bottom ! Poll source ! Date(s)
administered ! Sample
size ! Margin
of error ! style="width:100px;", Rick
Saccone (R) ! style="width:100px;", Conor
Lamb (D) ! Other ! Undecided , - ,

Monmouth University Monmouth University is a private university in West Long Branch, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956 and Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its university charter, c ...

, align=center, March 8–11, 2018 , align=center, 372 , align=center, ± 5.1% , align=center, 45% , align=center, 51% , align=center, 1% , align=center, 3% , - , RABA Research , align=center, March 6–8, 2018 , align=center, 707 , align=center, ± 3.7% , align=center, 44% , align=center, 48% , align=center, – , align=center, 9% , - ,

Gravis Marketing Gravis may refer to: * Advanced Gravis Computer Technology, manufacturer of computer peripherals, soundcards and joysticks * Dynamic Sport Gravis, a Polish paraglider design * Gravis ''(Ninjago)'', a character in ''Ninjago'' *Gravis, an alien in th ...

, align=center, March 1–5, 2018 , align=center, 911 , align=center, ± 3.3% , align=center, 45% , align=center, 42% , align=center, – , align=center, 13% , - ,

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

, align=center, March 1–3, 2018 , align=center, 474 , align=center, ± 4.8% , align=center, 45% , align=center, 48% , align=center, – , align=center, 7% , - ,

, align=center, February 13–15, 2018 , align=center, 602 , align=center, ± 4.2% , align=center, 45% , align=center, 40% , align=center, – , align=center, 15% , - ,

, align=center, February 12–14, 2018 , align=center, 320 , align=center, ± 5.5% , align=center, 49% , align=center, 46% , align=center, 1% , align=center, 4% , - , DFM Research (D) , align=center, January 18–19, 2018 , align=center, 384 , align=center, ± 5.0% , align=center, 41% , align=center, 38% , align=center, – , align=center, 21% , - ,

, align=center, January 3–5, 2018 , align=center, 513 , align=center, ± 4.3% , align=center, 46% , align=center, 34% , align=center, – , align=center, 20%

Results

Lamb declared victory just after midnight on March 14. With all precincts reporting, Lamb led Saccone by 627 votes, a margin of 0.2 percent.

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

declared Lamb the apparent winner early on the morning of March 14, based on the remaining absentee ballots from Washington County. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' followed suit later that afternoon. A few other outlets declared Lamb the winner in what has been described as "a major upset", but others withheld judgment, citing the closeness of the race and the likelihood of a recount. Saccone conceded the race to Lamb on March 21, the day that the last votes were counted. Allegheny County certified its election results on April 2, making Conor Lamb's victory official. He was sworn in on April 12. Lamb's victory came primarily on the strength of winning the Allegheny County portion of the district by almost 15,400 votes, as he lost the rest of the district by 14,700 votes.Election results from CNN
/ref>

Results by county

{, class="wikitable sortable" , +Vote breakdown by county ! ! colspan="2" ,

Democrat ! colspan="2" , Rick Saccone
Republican ! colspan="2" , Drew Gray Miller

! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" , Margin ! style="text-align:center;", Total , - ! style="text-align:center;", County ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" , Votes ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" , % ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" , Votes ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" , % ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" , Votes ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" , % !Votes ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" , % ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number" , Votes , - , style="text-align:center;", Allegheny, , 58,874, , 57.25%, , 43,398, , 42.24%, , 526, , 0.51%, , 15,476, , 15.01%, , 102,798 , - , style="text-align:center;", Greene, , 2,022, , 41.56%, , 2,800, , 57.56%, , 43, , 0.88%, , 778, , 16.00%, , 4,865 , - , style="text-align:center;",

, , 22,757, , 46.16%, , 26,198, , 53.14%, , 344, , 0.70%, , 3,441, , 6.98%, , 49,299 , - , style="text-align:center;", Westmoreland, , 30,449, , 42.37%, , 40,951, , 56.98%, , 468, , 0.65%, , 10,502, , 14.61%, , 71,868

External links

Conor Lamb (D) for Congress

Rick Saccone (R) for Congress

References

{{2018 United States elections Pennsylvania 2018 18 Pennsylvania 2018 18 2018 18 Special Pennsylvania 18 Special United States House of Representatives 18 Special United States House of Representatives 2018 18 March 2018 in the United States

Background

Republican conferee meeting

Candidates

Declared

Failed to qualify

Withdrew

Results

Democratic convention

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Results

Libertarian Party nomination

General election

Candidates

Predictions

Campaign

Campaign funding

Debates

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Results by county

See also

External links

References